Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1885-1890, 1887-01-01

and universities confer such degrees upon
their students, and for the good reason
that they nave learned some useful art. in
learning the use of tools.
The United States government, by the
advice of some practical educator has for
tunately adopted the manual training
school system in the education of the young
Indians taken from many OF the wild
tribes of the west. At Hampton, Va,
Carlisle, Pa, and st. Ignatius, Montana,
the boys and girls spend about four hours
a day in study and the balance o. the time
in the workshops.
Last year had the pleasure of visiting
schools at st. Ignatius. Here | found
a class Of boys in the carpenter shop,
another doing wood work in repairing
wagons and in another shop they were
working at blacksmithing; then I saw
some making harness and shoes and 9TH
ers making clothes. Some of the boys
painting and glazing On the large new
school building. All had to work more or
less on the large farm a part of the day, SO
as to learn how to farm their own lands
when they leave the school. The boys
also had to take turns in assisting in cook
ing for the hundred or more pupils attend
ing school there. Who can doubt that
these boys SO taught will become civilized
men.
In the girls department | found they
were thoroughly taught house keeping, as
making the beds and keeping their rooms
in order, making their own clothes, cook
ing, milking the cows and making butter
and cheese, washing and ironing, some
fancy work, cultivating small garden plots
and flower beds, besides attending school
part of the day. Everything necessary
to make the girls good housekeepers in
their own future homes, they we're taught
and had to do.
This is the first practical manual train
ing school | know of in Montana.
Now | have written this article so as to
draw the attention of the public to this
most important subject and trust it may in
duce others to interest themselves in the
work of getting our legislature, which will
O assemble at Helena, to so amend our
school laws, as to authorize our boards of
school trustees to establish and maintain
manual training schools in every school
district of our territory where the popula-
ton and wealth of the community will
justify the expense.
And, Mr.. Editor, if you publish this ar
ticle, | wish you would send a copy of
your paper containing it to every member
of our legislature by the second Monday
Of January next.
| wish to have you call the attention of
the proprietors of the Great Falls Townsite
and Water Power company or companies
to the great importance of setting apart a
piece of ground and a sufficient water
power noao while neither are occupied, for
the future great manual training school of
Montana. The grounds and power should
be sufficient to hold the shops and furnish
the power for a thousand pupils at work
at once. know of no other place in Mon
tana that has SO fully all the conditions for
the purpose named as Great Falls.
Icannot close this article without ac-
knowledging my obligations to Charles Fl.
Ham, the author of the excellent book on
manual training, published by Harper
Bros. New York, 1886, for many of the
ideas and some Of the language I have
used in this article. This book should be
in the hands of every school trustee and
parent in Montana who have children to
educate.
Helena, Dec. %, 1886.